


Where My Heart Truly Belongs

by Hitsugi_Zirkus



Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Birthday, Circus, Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 08:06:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3403112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hitsugi_Zirkus/pseuds/Hitsugi_Zirkus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some time after Clear joins the Cirque du Dramatique, Aoba surprises him with finally teaching Clear the same aerial performance that captivated him the day that they met.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where My Heart Truly Belongs

**Author's Note:**

> And here it is, my second gift to Clear~ (^_^) Of course I had to write a Clearao, haha.
> 
> Okay so there’s been a circus AU that’s been sitting in my USB for over half a year and it’s just ridiculous that I haven’t finished it. Anyway, in pondering what to do for Clear’s birthday, I kept coming back to this idea no matter how I tried for other ideas. So I hope you’ll bear with me that it’s an AU and such, and that y’all will enjoy it *bows*
> 
> The song Aoba has playing is "Lullaby Blue" by Itou Kanako because it's my favorite Clear ending song uvu

The red fabrics of sheer and silky material alike whispered in the air as Aoba dipped his head back, some traces of glitter under his hazel eyes as he looked at Clear, making their color shimmer even more in the blue light surrounding them. While Clear knew he _should_ be paying attention to the instructions Aoba was giving him, his attention caught on the beauty of him that he dared think was ethereal. Which was ridiculous and embarrassing, he knew that, but every time he watched Aoba perform with his silks that dangled from above, he couldn’t help but be mesmerized by how Aoba floated through the air.

It was magical. He’d known it the moment he first saw it. Aoba was magical.

Blue, shimmering light directed at the stage that only they occupied in the otherwise empty theater gave the illusion that they were underwater. Aoba said he’d set it up himself with the help of their tech crew, and it made his red outfit from the Valentine shows stand out in a pretty way. He also said that now, he’d finally teach Cirque du Dramatique’s latest newbie how to do aerial performances. The way the strands of light-blue and silver silks hanging down gave them the appearance of the jellyfish that Clear so admired, and he told Aoba as much when they had first stepped on stage.

Aoba had smiled, looking pleased. “Well, it’s not very impressive, I know. But it’s your own fault, for telling me last minute that your birthday was coming up.”

“Aoba-san did this for me?” Clear looked again to the tranquil scenery, surrounded by that same shade of beautiful blue as Aoba’s hair. Clear loved playing with it and Aoba let him, which came as a surprise later on when Sei said Aoba didn’t let anyone touch his hair except him and Ren. 

Hands proudly on his hips, Aoba nodded. “And since I went through the effort of setting up for the silks, I’m going to teach you a little, since you’ve said you’ve always had an interest in them.”

“Ah, Aoba-san, are you really? Oh, I’ve wanted to ever since I first saw your show with the others!” With an awed gasp, Clear clasped his hands together. He wondered if Aoba could see his smile through his thickly shimmering yellow veil. It was a part of Clear’s first costume that Sei and Mink helped make, and even when the performance came to end, Clear always kept the veil on. Aoba thought it was better than the mask he used to insist on at any rate.

And so in a few short minutes, Clear was watching Aoba wrap himself up in and twirl with his twin set of silks. A song was playing on the stereo that he’d thought to bring as well, the melody pouring out just as soothing and captivating as the sight of Aoba moving so fluidly in the air above him. He knew from his own failed attempts that being able to do aerial performances wasn’t an easy task, and required incredible muscle control and balance, neither of which Clear was particularly known for despite his strength.

Of course it was inevitable that in the end, Clear was mindlessly twirling his own lone silk around his wrist, gazing at Aoba with wonder and marveling at his fluid grace and flex of muscle. No matter how many times he saw Aoba perform, the sense of being wholly captivated never left Clear. Aoba just made it look so effortless, as if he’d always been swimming beneath the blue like this.  

When the song ended, Aoba arching nearly upside-down with silken-wrapped legs poised above him, he offered Clear such a gorgeous smile that he was quite sure that he felt something melt inside him.

“Alright then,” Aoba said with an accomplished breath. He wove himself out of the shiny trappings and landed softly on the floor, taking only one silk to the side. “We’ll start with just one for now, since it’s harder to control two. Start by just holding onto it - above your head, since you’ll need to pull yourself up… Yeah, like that. And then start weaving it around your ankles and feet, like this.”

Clear had already taken off his shoes as Aoba had instructed earlier, and he watched Aoba’s movements very closely in order to mimic them. It was a bit hard to look at him with a more critical eye, but he supposed technique was what made the performance so stunning to look at.

Effortlessly, he hoisted his body up, and with his tongue poking out in concentration, he did as Aoba had done.

Aoba nodded in approval. “Okay, make sure not to get tangled at this part. You’re gonna want to go for this.” He moved his legs in front of him, wrapping more of the silk around his foot and doing the same with his other, as if he were walking up into the air.

“Uwaa… Um, like this?” Clear moved his leg out too, trying to use it to get the silk around his other foot, but he kept missing.

Aoba laughed a little. “Keep the silk taut, okay? Yours is a bit loose right now.”

As Clear whined, the song started back up again, probably on repeat. Biting his lip, he tried to imagine that he was as weightless and fluid as Aoba was. He tightened his grip on the silk and stretched his leg out again, pulling it out tightly with his foot and bringing up his other one as Aoba slowly did the same thing. It worked better this time, and he wrapped his other foot in the silk with a smile.

“There you go,” Aoba said with a proud grin. “Keep doing that again and again until it comes more naturally. And you’ll have the basic climbing move.”

“Aoba-san makes this seem effortless,” Clear said with a helpless laugh.

With easy movements, Aoba weaved up a little higher, twisting the silk around himself and spinning himself gracefully around. He leaned back against the shimmering fabric, still smiling. “It took a lot of practice, just like anything else. You can do it too. You’re already so strong after all - all you need is a channel for it.”

“You think I could be as good as you or Sei-san or Ren-san?” Clear looked up at him and tried to climb a little higher, using his hands to pull himself up with each aerial step.

“Maybe, if you keep practicing. It’d be nice if I could have my own partner instead of sharing Ren with Sei.”

Perking up at the notion that he could possibly perform alongside Aoba, Clear jolted up a bit too quickly, nearly unraveling himself of balance. He wriggled around and eventually righted himself, Aoba reaching out in worry.

“Ah, see?” he said with a nervous laugh. “You gotta keep practicing that.”

“Of course! I’ll keep doing my best so that I can perform with Aoba-san!” Sticking his tongue out again, he tried to do the twist Aoba had done earlier. Success was reached, albeit awkwardly, and he laughed a little to reassure himself. He was already a few feet from the ground, but instead of looking down, it was up at Aoba, holding his gaze.

“After all,” he said, “if Aoba-san hadn’t taken me to see the cirque that day, then I probably wouldn’t exist anymore. What I saw then, it stirred something inside me. You’d given me a sight and feelings I hadn’t ever felt before; I didn’t want to take my eyes off of you ever.” As he spoke, he held himself up with one hand, the other coming down to touch his chest, right over where his heart would be.

The movement wasn’t lost on Aoba, who’s eyes had widened more with each word that Clear spoke. Those hazel crystals went from Clear’s face, down to where his hand pressed to his chest, and his gaze softened. A warm smile spread on his lips as he lowered himself with all the beauty of a swaying jellyfish, down to Clear’s level. His swung himself forward a bit so that his leg reached out around Clear’s waist, and Clear caught him with his free arm, keeping them even closer.

Aoba gazed at him with tenderness before finally glancing down in embarrassment. “I’m happy you feel that way. I didn’t know those kinds of feelings would happen to you, but I did know that I wanted you with us, because your grandpa was right about you having a heart, after all. You might be made artificially, but,” he laughed a little, “no one in the cirque is perfect. More than that though, I also knew no matter what, if you could react that way to our performance, well then - only someone with a heart could be moved like that, right?”

Without a doubt, Clear knew the answer, and he nodded to Aoba. “Yes.”

“You came with us because you just want to be treated like a human, like the rest of us.”

“I never feel artificial when I’m here, and,” he felt his cheeks turn hot, “when I’m with you, Aoba-san, my chest feels so strange. But not in a bad way. Sort of like…” He glanced up at the silk Aoba was still holding onto. “Like Aoba-san, when he twirls around and around, all up high. It’s a floaty feeling like that.”

Aoba’s breath hitched, and he glanced away. “Clear.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, was that wrong to say?”

“No, not at all! I mean,” now Aoba’s cheeks were starting to color, making the glitter on his face stand out more, “how - how strong are you?”

Clear blinked. “Eh? Aoba-san knows that. I picked up Mink-san with one hand.”

“Then…” Aoba started to untangle himself from his silk. “Hold me for a sec?”

“Ah? O-oh. O-of course! Um…” Clear scooped Aoba up into his free arm, both of his legs still wrapped around Clear’s waist. It made it seem like he was holding Aoba like a child, but Clear couldn’t really think of that when Aoba was holding onto him with that lithe body of his, pressing so close to him that they were sharing warmth. They had a moment to take in their new position with embarrassed looks, but then slowly, Aoba was the first to move. He pressed their foreheads together, one of his hands moving along Clear's shoulder. 

"Aoba-san..."

"I know you miss your grandpa a lot, but I'm also happy that at least you still get to have your special day, the one in which he brought you into this world as you are. For that, I really wanted to do something for you, because I'm grateful that you're here. I knew you liked to see the ocean one day, and you might not know this, but it means a lot to me, too. It was on the shore of a beach that my father found me, Ren, and Sei. In a way, I guess it's like home, what lives in my heart."

Clear searched Aoba's face, hanging onto his every word. It didn't occur to him how softly he was speaking until he opened his mouth as well. "Do you think the ocean could be in my heart too?" 

Aoba smiled. "I think so. The glassy, blue water is just like you. And when you sing, it really has a calming effect on people. You have a lot more depth than you were given credit for. And I - I really like that about you." 

For a second, Clear could swear his circuits stopped functioning, and he gripped Aoba tighter. "Aoba-san..." 

"Hey, I'm going to do something. But just tell me if you don't like it, alright?" Aoba's breath was close to his, his hand coming up to cradle the side of Clear's face.

Unable to answer, Clear only let out a shuddering breath and allowed Aoba to untie his veil. It fluttered between their chests like a skittish fish, but Clear didn't dare follow after it, gauging Aoba's every action to see what he'd do next. He watched the tenderness melting in his gaze, a fond smile on his lips the last thing Clear saw before the music swelled in the background like a growing wave, rolling over them the next second when Aoba stole his breath away with a soft kiss. 

If it was at all possible, it was a position Clear wanted to be in forever, suspended in the ocean air with Aoba, holding someone so wondrous so close to him like a precious treasure, learning to love him more and more. Forever was a possibility only for him though, not Aoba. Even so, he wanted to watch every second of Aoba dancing through his life. But not only watch, also be a part of that dance, and be able to one day twirl Aoba in breathless circles. 

While Clear thought this, only a second had actually passed before Aoba pulled away, but he pressed in again, peppering Clear's lips with sweet kisses, being insistent then gentle, then almost simply just a brush of lips, their breath passing between them. Clear hoped that he wouldn't malfunction and send them both tumbling to the ground. Luckily, they were still holding fast to one another, even when his metal insides suddenly as flimsy as the silks when Aoba pulled back enough to smile at him.

"Happy birthday, Clear."

Clear's breath hitched, his vision blurring with tears of pure happiness. He wanted to kiss Aoba again, if only for the action to supply the words he couldn't find, but he managed to stutter out a quiet, "Thank you, Aoba-san. I'm so happy that I was created - if only so I could be here." 

Aoba nodded, mirroring the sincerity with more caresses of Clear's face that he always hid. His fingertips traced his nose and lips, his cheekbones and then further down to the right corner of his lips, where underneath were his two moles. 

And then he pulled away, wrapping his ankles in the silk again and twirling his way down to the ground. Although disappointed by the sudden separation, Clear couldn't help but admire the agile movements. 

"Come on," Aoba said to him.

"Eh? Are we going somewhere?" Clear awkwardly slid down from his strand of silk, nearly tumbling to the floor when he landed. 

Aoba nodded, offering out his hand. "Yeah. I know I said that this was your present, but - well, there should still be a celebration, right? Everyone's waiting for you. So are you ready to go?"

 _Everyone's waiting for you_. Clear had no idea how he went from having nothing, to a family, to all these friends. He was designed to hurt people, yet because of the love he was given, he could now give the same thing back. _He had people waiting for him_. He had people who would celebrate the occasion of someone like him being in this world.

Overflowing with that happiness, it took Clear no time at all to reach out and take Aoba's hand.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, my precious cuppycake! I wish you all the happiness andforyoutobewithAobaforeversobs. You're my favorite boyfriend and just a perf sweetheart, thank you for all the inspiration and the cheering up you've given me ;w;
> 
> (I'll get around to actually finishing this AU one day. Maybe... *nervous laughter* Also please go search on youtube for silk performances, they're really pretty and probably my favorite kind of aerial performance hhhhh)


End file.
